Empires & Allies Crisis on Mercadia: Everything you need to know

A new mini-series is available in Empires & Allies, with this one dealing with a civil war in the far-off land of Mercadia. If you want to participate in this event, you'll have no choice but to help restore order in Mercadia, but which side you'll ultimately give power to is up to you. You can choose to help either the rebels or the government, but regardless of your choice, your work in this event starts out the same, with a single mission:

Mercadia is Burning

Place 5 Watch Towers

Gather 5 Newspapers

Tend 50 Neighbor Houses

Watch Towers are found in the decorations tab of the store, with each one costing 5,000 coins. The Newspapers come from friends (posting a general news item on your wall), and you'll simply need to visit at least 10 friends (tending five homes at each) to finish off this mission.

At this point, you'll be able to branch off into one path or the other, helping either the government earn power back in Mercadia, or the rebels. On one side, you have the ultimate goal of a Serval Buggy with 540 hit points, while on the other side you have a Mystery Crate that will contain anywhere from 3 - 50 Empire Points. The great thing about this feature is that the missions are repeatable (up to 10 times). That means that if you want, you can complete both sides of the event if you have enough time to receive more rewards.

Unfortunately, this event is being timed, and you only have around 10 days (as of this writing) to complete as much as you can, as many times as you can. Good luck!
What do you think of this Crisis on Mercadia event? Which side will you choose to help first? Sound off in the comments.